VANCOUVER, Feb. 22, 2018 /CNW/ – When small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations come together to generate bold ideas, Canadians benefit from more well-paying jobs, groundbreaking research and a world-leading innovation economy.

This is what businesses and partners from British Columbia will do as part of the Digital Technology Supercluster, which was selected as part of the Government of Canada’s $950-million Innovation Superclusters Initiative. This was the message delivered today by the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, on a visit to UBC Robson Square in Vancouver.

The Digital Technology Supercluster will unlock the potential of data. Through bigger, better datasets and the cutting-edge applications of augmented reality, cloud computing and machine learning, this supercluster will improve service delivery and efficiency in the natural resource, precision health and manufacturing sectors. Ultimately, the Digital Technology Supercluster will arm Canadians with the best data to drive decision making and will connect the digital and physical worlds.

In 2017, the Government of Canada challenged Canadian businesses of all sizes to collaborate with other innovation actors, including post-secondary and research institutions, to propose bold and ambitious strategies that would transform regional economies and develop job-creating superclusters of innovation, like Silicon Valley.

The Innovation Superclusters Initiative is a centrepiece of the Government of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to prepare Canada for the innovative jobs of today and tomorrow.

Quotes

“Canada is investing in five superclusters so that tomorrow we will be more than 50,000 jobs richer and benefit from an even stronger economy—an innovation economy. With the Superclusters Initiative, we bet on Canadians. We looked at what we did well across our great nation, and we asked industry, academia and NGOs how we could do it better. The response was impressive and the ideas were remarkable.”
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

“The Digital Technology Supercluster will create new opportunities for all the companies involved, help create more than 13,500 new jobs in British Columbia and across Canada, and add more than $5 billion to Canada’s economy over the next 10 years. This is great news for the economy of British Columbia, for Canadian innovation and for our society.”
– The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Service and Procurement

“The Government of Canada has inspired diverse talent to come together with a shared goal to collaboratively solve the biggest challenges facing Canada and the world today. Whether enabling advanced healthcare treatments and cures via precision health analytics or using data collection and visualization to support new best practices in the natural resources sector, our B.C.-led Digital Technology Supercluster will now be able to innovate in a globally leading manner. The breakthroughs, skilled jobs and economic growth we create will be of significant benefit to British Columbians and all Canadians.”
– Josh Blair, Chief Corporate Officer, Executive Vice-President, TELUS, founding member of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster

Quick facts

The five Canadian superclusters are the Ocean Supercluster (based in Atlantic Canada), the SCALE.AI Supercluster (based in Quebec), the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster (based in Ontario), the Protein Industries Supercluster (based in the Prairies) and the Digital Technology Supercluster (based in British Columbia).

Superclusters are dense areas of business activity where many of the middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow are created. They attract large and small companies that collaborate with universities, colleges and not-for-profit organizations to turn ideas into solutions that can be brought to market.

Together the superclusters represent more than 450 businesses, 60 post-secondary institutions and 180 other participants in sectors covering 78 percent of Canada’s economy.

Having the strong representation of women and under-represented groups in these superclusters is a top priority. The superclusters will endeavour to increase the representation of women and under-represented groups in their activity and leadership, helping them succeed in skilled jobs in highly innovative industries.